Foundation Musick's Monument
INFO IN HET GULDEN CRUIJS. MUNTSTRAAT 26
Maastricht
Johannes Lodewijk Dulcken was baptised at St Janskerk in Maastricht on 15 April 1735 as the eldest son in the family of Johannes Daniël Dulcken and Susanna Maria Knopffell.
His father was born in Wingeshausen (D) on 21 April 1706. His mother was born around 1706 in Sankt Goar on the Rhine.
The young family is in money trouble in Maastricht. On 1 March 1736, Daniel borrows 300 guilders at 5% interest from his cousin Gerhart Prescher. The promissory note was written by Daniël in High German and was later translated into Dutch in connection with the ensuing trial.
In October 1736, they moved to a house located at De Munt called Het Gulde Cruijs. The house is located between ‘Het Gulden Hooft’ and ‘Den Swerten Rave’. They rent the house from Maria Catharina Bijen for a period of six years. His brother Jan Christiaan Dulcken acts as guarantor. In this large property, Daniel and his wife run a grocery shop, a gruttery. How much time he spends building harpsichords is not clear; in the deed he is called a merchant. During 1737, Daniel borrows 600 guilders from the widow of mayor Hesselt van Dinter. It then turns out that he earns too little to pay off all his debts. Around the turn of 1737/38, he leaves Maastricht for Antwerp. Johannes Lodewijk is not yet three years old when they arrive in Antwerp. Meanwhile, the house at De Munt is no longer occupied, but it is not empty. Daniel has left behind much of his furniture and shop inventory. Then the creditors report to the magistrate of Maastricht. The latter appoints Johan Guichard as curator over ‘the desolate estate of the absent Jan Daniël Dulcken’. A public announcement appears on 17 June 1738; anyone who thinks they are entitled to something from the bankrupt estate must come forward. Several people appear: family Bijen, brother and sister, report that Dulcken owes them nine months of rent arrears, totalling 138 gulden.
Cousin Gerhart reports that he still owes 225 guilders and widow Hesselt van Dinter receives 600 guilders. A merchant from Amsterdam, Gerard Katers, also reports being entitled to 410 guilders, as costs of goods and for valuation costs.
On 20 June 1738, they enter the Gulden Cruijs to value all goods.
The valuation report shows that there are many tables and chairs as well as a ‘stoeltien and a loopkorf’ (for Johannes Lodewijk?) In the shop there are a counter, some safes, a large iron balance with six scales, a small-sized balance, 50-pound weights, tin measuring cups and a tobacco mill. Also many barrels, wooden boxes, baskets, oil tubs and barrels of tobacco, etc. One also finds two violins without strings and a trumpet. It is clear that Daniel took everything related to the construction of harpsichords with him to Antwerp.
Historisch Centrum Limburg, inv. nr. 4573
The young family moves to Antwerp in 1738 in poverty. Debts incurred in Maastricht are on their necks. Time and again they receive letters from the trustee in Maastricht and each time Daniel has to answer them. This lasts until the middle of 1740. How the debt is repaid is not clear.
VIDEO BANKRUPTCY
Antwerp
Antwerp
Antwerp in the 17th century is the city where leading harpsichords are built by the Ruckers family. Over a period of 50 years, they made more than 3,000 harpsichords, 100 of which can still be found in museums today. Their harpsichords differ from all instruments made until then because of their timbre, construction and design. Their manner became the standard for much of Europe.
When young Johannes Lodewijk arrives in Antwerp a hundred years later with his father, mother and little sister, they continue the tradition of the Ruckers family.
A brilliant harpsichord maker, Father Dulcken has been called the most esteemed Flemish harpsichord maker of the 18th century. They probably got out of debt quickly, as the impression is that they were already in good spirits by 1747.
The Dulcken family joins a small Reformed church in Antwerp in 1740: the Olijfberg, where Johannes Diepelius is pastor. In that Roman Catholic environment, the congregation forms ‘a church under the cross’ and are tolerated when they do not cause offence. This means that the small congregation often meets at the home of one of the members on Sunday mornings. This must surely have impressed young John Louis. In the church, his father becomes an elder and thus directs all church affairs. Johannes Daniël Dulcken is a seen person in Antwerp.
The workshop is located in Hopland, not far from the Jodestraat where Ruckers once worked. Besides building harpsichords, he also sells glassware for a glass factory in Ykenvliet.
Dulcken offers his harpsichords in a large region. In 1750, he even went to England to sell two of his harpsichords there. Dulcken made harpsichords with single and double manuals that often had a range of five octaves and three stops: two 8‘ and one 4’. He decorated the soundboard with flowers and carved his initials in the rose.
Johannes Daniel Dulcken 1755 - Das MK & G Museum Hamburg
About ten harpsichords by his hand have survived.
Joannes Daniel Dulcken 1745 - Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente, 726
Johannes Lodewijk (call sign Louis) and also his seven years younger brother Joannes receive a thorough education from their father. Not only do they learn how the Ruckers built harpsichords, but father Dulcken develops harpsichords with even more beautiful sounds and with even better construction.
In 1755, Louis, aged 20, leaves to go his own way. He and his father disagree on the direction of the business. One of his first assignments is the restoration of an organ in the Brabant town of De Leur. There, together with another organ builder, he has to take the organ apart, replace some parts, repair and clean others. All pipes also have to be retuned. All in all, that takes two months of work. For this they receive 125 guilders with board, lodging and a good bottle of wine each day. After finishing his work in De Leur, he left for Amsterdam.
In March 1755, he is registered as a member in the Amsterdam Reformed Church. Nevertheless, he decides to leave Amsterdam and settle in Kleve. But before that happens, he meets Catharina Koning in Amsterdam. He decides to stay in Amsterdam to establish a business there.
The young couple married on 7 May 1756. His father has to give permission for this because he is not yet of age.
Immediately after this marriage, it is arranged by will that the youngest son Joannes, upon father's death, takes over the business. When his father dies two years later, mother takes over the business because Joannes is still a minor.
Meanwhile, the eldest daughter, Joanna Henriëtta Dulcken married Johann Hermann Faber, , a well-known painter. In 1763, the mother petitioned the magistrate of Antwerp to grant her permission to move to Brussels. There she sees more opportunities to continue the harpsichord-making workshop together with her son-in-law. She also asks permission to dispose of her young children's money.
A painting, painted in 1764 by the painter Jan Joseph Horemans (1714-1790), hangs in the Snijders&Rockoxhuis in Antwerp. It is believed to depict the Dulcken family. On the harpsichord, the maker's signature ‘DUL [...] 1764’ is partially visible, most probably Dulcken. This instrument was probably made by Joannes Daniël Dulcken (1706-1757) and later signed by his son Joannes (1742-1775). In 1764, the family moved to Brussels. We see Joanna Henriette and Maria Sophia in the foreground, Joannes on the cello, Joanna, the youngest daughter in the middle. Behind them Jean Herman Faber who is married to the eldest daughter. Is a messenger coming to bring word that permission to move to Brussels has been received?
Johannes Lodewijk has already left for Amsterdam, with Joannes later leaving Brussels to set up a business in Amsterdam.
Snijders & Rockoxhuis
Signed and dated lower left: J Horemans 1764 on the floor
Joanna Henrietta Dulcken 10-02-1737 & Jean Herman Faber 1734
Maria Sophia Dulcken 26-01-1740 - †17 Januari 1805
Joannes Dulcken 10-09-1742
Joanna Eliezabetha 2-2-1747